NEW YORK (HRNW) – British billionaire Joe Lewis has surrendered to U.S. authorities in Manhattan and is expected to appear in court later on Wednesday to face insider trading charges, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan said.
Federal prosecutors accused Lewis, whose family trust controls a majority of the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team, of orchestrating a “brazen” insider trading scheme by passing tips about companies in which he invested to friends, personal assistants, private pilots and romantic partners.
Two of Lewis’ pilots, Patrick O’Connor and Bryan Waugh, were also charged with insider trading securities fraud. They reaped millions of dollars in illegal profit from Lewis’ tips, prosecutors said.
Lewis’ lawyer David Zornow said prosecutors “made an egregious error” in charging Lewis, 86, and said his client had come to the United States voluntarily to defend himself against the charges.
Lawyers for O’Connor, 66, and Waugh, 64, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They have both also been arrested, according to prosecutors.
A spokesperson for Tottenham said in a statement: “This is a legal matter unconnected with the club and as such we have no comment.”